Follow Rules To Protect Your Winnings

Answer Lady

October 26, 1994|By JILL KEECH Daily Press

Q: I purchase Lotto By Mail one year at a time. When I win, I plan to ask for the winnings to be split six ways. I would want each of my family members - which includes my husband and four children - to be considered a separate winner. Is it important for them to all chip in for the tickets, so there's no question that they're winners and not recipients of a gift from me?

- T.B., Yorktown

A: There must be others like me who don't play the lottery and don't know the lingo. For all of us: Lotto by Mail means purchasing a Lotto subscription in advance - six months or a year's worth of tickets at a time. The same number is played for every game for the length of the subscription with the prepurchased tickets, says Paula Otto, Virginia Lottery public information director.

Families - or any group - planning to share winnings are advised to have some kind of formal agreement in writing that states who the winners would be, making it clear that the children, in your case, are part of a family pool, Otto says. It probably also would be a "good idea" if everyone involved contributed to buying that subscription, or any ticket. This makes it clear that the prize money would be winnings and not a gift.

For gifts of more than $10,000, donors are required to pay a gift tax, says Joy Perkins, public affairs specialist with the Internal Revenue Service in Richmond. To avoid any question of intent, you should follow the lottery guidelines cited here. And law requires that winners report winnings as taxable income, Perkins adds. Lottery winnings are gambling winnings, which are considered taxable income.

Your family members would be issued separate checks, with state and federal taxes withheld from each. However, according to their individual tax situations, they might be subject to additional tax.

Q: How can one get in contact with noted director Spike Lee? I have a written work that I'd like to present for possible use.

- R.W.B., Newport News

A: According to the story development department at Lee's company, you need to first have your work copyrighted or registered with the Writers Guild of America East. Then send a copy of the work, with an appropriate size stamped, self-addressed envelope, to 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, 8 St. Felix St., Brooklyn, NY 11217. To request guild registration materials, call (212) 767-7800 or write Writers Guild of America East Manuscript Registration Service, 555 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019.

SUPPORT GROUP COMES TO PENINSULA. The Aug. 1 Answer Lady column dealt with a support group for sufferers of Meniere's syndrome, which stems from a malfunctioning of the semicircular canal of the inner ear and causes symptoms such as dizziness and nausea. I noted that a free support group was sponsored by Atlantic Coast Ear Specialists in Virginia Beach meeting regularly at the beach and periodically on the Peninsula. Beginning Tuesday, Nov. 1, Atlantic Coast will sponsor a monthly meeting at 7 p.m. the first Tuesday of the month at Second Presbyterian Church, 201 Menchville Road in Newport News. The group is open to those with hearing and balance disorders, including Meniere's. For more info, call group facilitator Debi Flowers at her business (874-9239).